Coffee News Recap, 16 Oct: Starbucks denies Chipotle merger, Colombia’s 2025/26 coffee production and exports fall by over 12% & other stories

Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the week. 

Editor’s note

Starbucks has ruled out a takeover of Chipotle, days after the Financial Times reported that the coffee chain had worked with advisers on a possible bid. A deal would have been the largest in the restaurant industry’s history, surpassing Burger King’s US$11.4bn purchase of Tim Hortons in 2014.

The idea gained traction because Brian Niccol, the Starbucks chief executive, led Chipotle for more than six years before joining the coffee chain in 2024. However, Starbucks remains in the middle of its turnaround strategy, which lifted net profit by 33% to US$510.9m in its fiscal second quarter. A merger of this size would have drawn management attention away from this profitability push.

Meanwhile, coffee production in Colombia continues to fall. Output dropped 15% to 12.65 million 60kg bags in the 2025/26 coffee year, from 14.87 million a year earlier, according to Germán Bahamón, general manager of the National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers. Exports also fell 12% to 11.78 million bags over the same period. The federation blamed variable weather, although September production rose 6% compared with the same month last year.

Brazil, however, has a greater influence on prices than Colombia. Arabica futures fell below US$3/lb this week, as expectations of plentiful Brazilian supply eased concerns over next year’s harvest. Even so, certified arabica stocks on the ICE exchange fell to a 27-year low in September, which leaves prices exposed to further supply shocks.

Top stories of the week

• Mon, 12 Oct – Starbucks denies rumours about Chipotle merger. The coffee chain said it was not buying the burrito business, four days after a Financial Times report that it had worked with advisers on a bid. Interest centred on Brian Niccol, the Starbucks chief executive and former head of Chipotle. After the denial, Chipotle shares fell 4.3%, while Starbucks rose 1.7%. (Seattle, Washington, US)

• Mon, 12 Oct – Brazil posts modest recovery in exports despite a record harvest. Brazil’s arabica shipments fell 7.1% in September, despite a large harvest this year. Total coffee exports rose 3.1% to 3.89 million 60kg bags, up from 3.78 million a year earlier, according to the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council (Cecafé). (Sao Paulo, Brazil)

• Tue, 13 Oct – Madagascar aims to raise US$150m to revive coffee sector and boost production. Madagascar’s government aims to raise US$150m to revive its coffee sector and lift national output to 100,000 tonnes over the next decade, according to Gaëtan Ramindo, the minister of agriculture and food sovereignty. The target forms part of the country’s National Recovery and Competitiveness Programme for 2026 to 2036. (Antananarivo, Madagascar)

• Thu, 15 Oct – Colombia’s 2025/26 production falls by 15%; exports drop by 12%. The FNC reported that production fell 15% y/y to 12.65 million 60kg bags, while exports fell 12% y/y to 11.78 million bags. Combined with concerns that the El Niño weather pattern could hurt Brazil’s coffee crop next year, this has pushed arabica prices up slightly. (Bogota, Colombia)

• Fri, 16 Oct – Subway invests in new coffee and food-to-go menus. The sandwich chain plans to nearly double its footprint across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to 10,000 restaurants within five years. To support growth, Subway will redesign its sites with self-order kiosks and an evening menu, alongside a new breakfast range and a coffee offer made with 100% arabica beans. (London, UK)

Industry news

• Tue, 13 Oct – Espresso House opens first shop in France in partnership with Lagardère Travel Retail. The Swedish chain has opened at Dijon’s main railway station. The shop has two bars: one for customers on the move and another for those who want to sit down. Founded in 1996, Espresso House already operates in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Germany. Thomas Kelly, the group’s chief executive, described France as a market with a strong coffee culture and significant potential. (Paris, France)

• Wed, 14 Oct – Italy launches its international coffee strategy, including the Espresso Fund. Italy’s foreign ministry unveiled the strategy in Rome on 14 October, built on two programmes. The first, ACT Coffee, aims to make Africa’s coffee supply chain more sustainable, with UNIDO running it alongside the International Coffee Organisation and the Italian Coffee Committee. The second, the Global Coffee Initiative, brings together the World Bank Group and Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti to prepare projects and attract investment, and it includes the Espresso Fund, which Italy is promoting with the World Bank. Giuseppe Lavazza, president of the Italian Coffee Committee, said the industry needs to shift from individual projects to a global approach. (Rome, Italy)

• Wed, 14 Oct – Union Hand Roasted Coffee secures contract with Waitrose. The London roaster has developed an exclusive Partners Blend for Waitrose, which the supermarket introduced across all its cafés on 14 October. The blend uses arabica coffee from Peru, Brazil, and Nicaragua. As part of the deal, Union will also train Waitrose staff as baristas, and the supermarket plans to sell the blend for home use in the coming months. The contract adds more than 100 cafés to a wholesale portfolio that includes bakery chain Gail’s, Waterstones’ Café W, and Peach Pubs. (London, UK)

• Wed, 14 Oct – Nestlé set to double its investment in Mexico. Nestlé will double its investment in Mexico, its fourth-largest market, from US$1bn to US$2bn over six years. The extra funding will expand production lines in Veracruz, Guanajuato, and Querétaro and build a US$180m distribution centre in Zumpango. In Veracruz, Nestlé will also distribute 70,000 coffee plants and work with 2,000 growers. (Vevey, Switzerland)

• Thu, 15 Oct – Specialty Coffee Association announces new Board of Directors. With the number of candidates being the same as the number of open seats, the Specialty Coffee Association has confirmed Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Sunalini Menon, and Karsten Ranitzsch as the new members of the SCA Board of Directors. No voting would be held for the positions. (Irvine, California, US)

• Thu, 15 Oct – Oatly announces long-term partnership with Well Grounded. Over five years, Oatly will donate 1p for every litre of Barista Edition sold to coffee shops and foodservice customers to Well Grounded, a social enterprise that trains people for careers in coffee. The money will fund free, accredited training for people out of work, supporting Well Grounded’s aim of creating 10,000 career opportunities across the UK. (London, UK)

• Thu, 15 Oct – Lavazza extends its Turin regeneration project beyond Nuvola with a new coffee and arts hub. The coffee group will redevelop an industrial building close to its Nuvola headquarters. Spread over several floors, the renovated spaces will focus on coffee culture, architecture, and contemporary art. French architect Jean Nouvel, who won the Pritzker Prize in 2008, will lead the design with Franco-Lebanese architect Hala Wardé, alongside Turin practice Picco Architetti and engineering firm EP&S. (Turin, Italy)

• Thu, 15 Oct – Rounton Coffee relocates to new roastery, plans to double production. The North Yorkshire roaster has moved from its converted granary in East Rounton to a 6,000 sq ft unit on Teesside Industrial Estate in Thornaby, three times the size of its previous base. Rounton currently roasts up to a tonne of coffee a day, and founder Dave Beattie expects the move to double production. The new site will also host training and events, and the company plans to create three new jobs. (Thornaby, UK)

• Fri, 16 Oct – SEY Coffee releases Panama Gesha worth more than US$200 a cup. The Brooklyn roaster paid US$44,275, or US$6,325 per kg, for the lot from Finca Sophia’s private auction. Depending on the recipe, a single cup can contain more than US$200 worth of coffee. SEY will serve it on its World Coffee Tour, a series of tastings of six rare coffees from Panama, Ethiopia, and Ecuador, which starts in the US before moving to London, Paris, Shanghai, and Seoul. (New York City, New York, US)

Businesses for sale

• Mon, 12 Oct – The Coffee Holding Co. announces a share repurchase plan. The US coffee roaster and importer will buy back up to US$2.5m of its own shares on the open market and through private deals, depending on market conditions and its share price. Coffee Holding will fund the programme from available cash and future operating cash flow, and its shares rose 6% after the announcement on 7 October. (New York City, New York, US)

New launch

• Mon, 12 Oct – La Cabra debuts in Spain with a boutique bakery-café. The Danish specialty coffee roaster opened on Calle Infantas in Madrid’s Chueca district on 9 October, combining a café and bakery in a building dating from 1855. Founded by Esben Piper in Aarhus in 2011, La Cabra already operates in Copenhagen, New York, Oman, and Bangkok, and developed the Madrid site with three local partners. (Madrid, Spain)

• Mon, 12 Oct – OutIn launches the new generation of its Nano portable espresso machine. The company says its 5,000mAh battery doubles the endurance of the original Nano, brewing up to nine cups from room-temperature water on a single charge. The Nano 2 recharges fully in 100 minutes, compared with 180 minutes for the previous model. (Denver, Colorado, US)

• Tue, 13 Oct – Eversys launches compact Legacy Steam coffee machine. The Swiss maker of super-automatic coffee machines has designed the Legacy Steam for cafés and venues with limited counter space. Operators can fit up to four grinders, or three grinders with two powder modules for drinks such as hot chocolate and chai. The machine offers three ways to steam milk: manual, automatic, and Eversys’s Everfoam system, which adjusts temperature and foam texture for dairy and plant-based milks such as oat, almond, and soy. (Sierre, Switzerland)

• Wed, 14 Oct – Third Wave Coffee teams up with jeweller CaratLane on ube drinks. The Indian coffee chain has launched a limited-edition range of three drinks made with ube in partnership with online jewellery brand CaratLane. Each drink carries a jewellery-inspired design and diamond-style latte art. Takeaway and delivery orders come in co-branded cups with collectable cards, and CaratLane shoppers can claim drink discounts at nearby Third Wave Coffee cafés. (Bengaluru, India)

• Wed, 14 Oct – Sparkling coffee brand GoKafé launches in Los Angeles. The brand, which blends sparkling cold coffee with fruit juice, is now sold in 150 shops across the Los Angeles area and online. Each can contains 120mg of caffeine, 10 to 20 calories, and no added sugar, with lemon, peach, and pink pineapple flavours. (Los Angeles, California, US)

• Thu, 15 Oct – JENKI opens eighth London matcha bar. The matcha brand has opened opposite Liverpool Street station, following its Soho launch in September, with sites in St Paul’s and Marylebone due before the end of 2026. The bar’s curved whisking counter takes its design cue from the old Underground entrance opposite, and a projected wall installation shows imagery from the team’s sourcing trips to Japan. (London, UK)

• Thu, 15 Oct – Beantropy podcast returns with new episodes. The podcast from Beantropy, the specialty coffee event, has released its latest series of conversations with people working across the coffee supply chain. Christophe Servell opens the series by asking whether the coffee market has become multipolar and where specialty coffee is heading. In the second episode, Rod Jounot asks whether coffee shops will kill specialty coffee. Beantropy plans to release two new episodes every two weeks, featuring producers, baristas, and other industry figures. (Paris, France)

• Thu, 15 Oct – Pact Coffee launches 2026 coffee advent calendar. The UK coffee subscription company’s 25-day calendar includes award-winning and limited-edition coffees, all sourced directly from farmers. It’s available to pre-order as whole beans or ground coffee, costing £29.95 for email subscribers who order early or £39.95 otherwise, with deliveries starting at the end of October. A 12-day version is also available. (London, UK)

• Thu, 15 Oct – Weber Workshops launches EG-1 80mm flat burr grinder. The company says the update is the biggest change to its 80mm flat-burr grinder since the original launched in 2015, and it will no longer label the EG-1 by version number. New features include a built-in ion generator to cut static, burrs that stay aligned after cleaning without manual adjustment, a vibration setting that clears leftover grounds from the burrs, an optional bean feeder, and an upgraded motor. (Incline Village, Nevada, US)

• Fri, 16 Oct – Nucleus Coffee Tools launches Silk milk jug. The company developed the jug with researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, studying how liquid flow, bubble formation, and foam stability affect the taste and texture of milk-based coffee drinks. Nucleus says Silk produces smoother, more stable foam, and is aimed at both home users and professional baristas. (Canberra, Australia)

• Fri, 16 Oct – Caffè Nero launches protein drinks with first functional collaboration. The chain has partnered with sports nutrition brand Myprotein to launch two high-protein iced drinks across its 600-plus UK stores. The Iced Vanilla Protein Matcha Latte contains 24g of protein and the Iced Vanilla Protein Latte contains 25g, with each drink under 160 calories. The company plans to add more recipes in January 2027. (London, UK)

Milestone

• Mon, 12 Oct – Huskee’s Smart Bin wins 2026 Australian Good Design Award. Huskee’s Smart Bin, part of its Borrow reuse scheme, has won in the commercial and industrial product design category. Rather than a standard bin, it is a connected return point that lets customers drop off reusable cups and containers using a QR code, helping keep them in circulation. (Melbourne, Australia)

• Tue, 13 Oct – Grounds for Health marks 30 years of cervical cancer prevention. The non-profit, which runs cervical cancer screening programmes for women in coffee-growing communities, has celebrated its 30th anniversary. Since 1996, it has screened 266,144 women and treated 22,127 across Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. (Burlington, Vermont, US)

• Wed, 14 Oct – International Women’s Coffee Alliance unveils new logo. The IWCA has introduced a new global visual identity. The organisation has more than 25,000 members across 40 chapters worldwide, and works to give women in coffee better access to training, leadership development, and markets. (Illinois, USA)

• Wed, 14 Oct – Bingxue opens first US store. The Chinese tea chain has opened in Davis, California, making it the first mass-market tea drinks brand from Shandong province to enter North America. The company sees the US as its main market outside China. (Shangdon, China)

• Thu, 15 Oct – Unseen Assagao marks first anniversary. The Goa property combines a boutique hotel with a specialty coffee shop, in-house roastery, coffee omakase and cocktail bar. (Goa, India)

Trade & production

• Mon, 12 Oct – Brazil’s record harvest pushed coffee prices down in September. The ICO Composite Indicator Price averaged 262.18 US cents/lb last month, down 8.7% from August, according to the International Coffee Organization’s latest Coffee Market Report. Fresh supply from Brazil and expectations of plentiful supply weighed on the market. Low certified arabica stocks and uncertainty over El Niño offered some support; however, all four ICO group indicators fell, with Brazilian Naturals recording the largest drop at 9.9%. (New York City, New York, US)

Research

• Mon, 12 Oct – Coffee shops rank as fifth most-searched small business idea in the US. An OnDeck analysis of Google Trends data found that “how to start a coffee business” had the fifth-highest search volume of any business idea in the US. The search also recorded the ninth-largest rise over the past year, suggesting interest in opening coffee businesses is growing. (South Jordan, Utah, US)

• Thu, 15 Oct – Freddo espresso costs a median of €2.50 in Greece, index finds. Coffee brand FREDDO analysed 442 prices from 433 cafés listed on delivery apps Wolt and efood. It found a freddo espresso costs a median of €2.50 in Athens and Thessaloniki, rising to €2.80 in Nicosia. The company calculates that the same drink made at home with its beans costs €0.52. (Athens, Greece)

Events & competitions

• Mon, 12 Oct – Brazil to host 2027 ASIC coffee science conference. The Association for the Science and Information on Coffee will hold its 31st conference from 31 May to 5 June 2027 in Poços de Caldas. The event will serve as the main international celebration of the 300th anniversary of coffee’s arrival in Brazil in 1727. (Poços de Caldas, Brazil)

• Tue, 13 Oct – Africa Cocoa and Coffee Conference adopts Lagos Declaration. The two-day conference closed with two agreements. The Lagos Declaration 2026 sets out shared commitments for Africa’s cocoa and coffee supply chains, while the Lagos Pact on Commodity Integrity will form Africa’s common position at the African Union summit in February 2027. (Lagos, Nigeria)

• Thu, 15 Oct – BRITA Professional’s 2026 Grounds for Innovation Awards announces winners. Camphill Café in Milton Keynes, which offers supported work experience and training for adults with a range of abilities, has won BRITA Professional’s 2026 ranking of the UK’s ten most innovative independent cafés. Fringe and Ginge in Canterbury came second, recognised for its community focus, sustainability work and activities beyond coffee. (London, UK)

Photo credits: Spain AeroPress Championship

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